Changing Process of Projected Image of Canada
in Japanese Package Tour B rochures
Daisuke KOJIMA
University of Tsukuba, Japan
Ph. D Candidate

Keywords: package tour, JALPAK, projected image, Japanese overseas traveler, Canada

Introduction
Package tours ha ve played an important role in
Japanese outbound tourism. Historically, mass tourism
in Japan resulted from the prevalence of reasonable
package tours and the appreciation of the Japanese yen.
From the 1970s to the present day, the ratio of tourists
using such tours has accounted for approximately 50%
of Japanese outbound travelers (Figure 1). In particular,
full package tourists comprise more than 80% of total
Japanese package tourists to Canada (Japan Tourist

Bureau 2006).

of the projected image of Canada in Japanese package
tour brochure s, with focus on the relationships among
tourist growth, tour operation, and tour route.

Japanese Travelers to Canada
Due to the deregulation imposed on overseas

travel in 1964, there was an increase in the number of
Japanese travelers to Canada (Figure 2). In fact,
Japanese tourism to Canada boomed twice; the first
boom occurred approximately in the mid-1970s, and it
was influenced by the depiction of Canada in the
Japanese movie and song.

The images depicted in tour brochures carry
significance in terms of destination marketing. The
image s projected by the brochures reflect the operators’
attitude toward the destination, and therefore, influence
the tourists’ decisions regarding the places to visit
(Wicks and Schuett 1991).
Therefore, many papers pertaining to destination
images have focused on the perceived destination image
(Bramwell and Rawding 1996). 142 literatures
regarding the perceived destination image were released
during 1973–2000 (Pike 2002), while few studies have
been conducted on the projected destination image (e.g. ,
Dilley 1986, Marsh 1986, Marti 1993, Ross 1994,
Pritchard and Morgan 1996, Yamakawa 1998, Santos
1998). Although the principles of an image are

transferable (Hunt 1975), most literatures on the
projected image have focused on it at a given time.
Moreover, there is insufficient knowledge regarding the
relationship between the projected image and package
tours.
This study aims to examine the changing process

Although this tourism plateaued in the early
1980s, the appreciation of the Japanese yen again
boosted the number of travelers to Canada. Around the
same time, the development of the Whistler resorts
reduced the gap between the peak and the off-peak
seasons. In addition, in 1987, Canada working holiday
program began in Japan. This year can be referred to as
the “second travel boom to Canada .” As the number of
Japanese travelers grew rapidly, two associations of
Japanese tour companies were established in Canada.
The first was that of Japanese local tour operators and
the second, that of Japanese wholesalers of package
tours.
Following the boom, the number of travelers
visiting Canada has stabilized at the present level,
except for a decline due to the terrorist attacks in 2001,
the Iraq War, and the SARS epidemic in 2003.

Methodology
History of JALPAK
JALPAK is a subsidiary of Japan Airlines (JAL)
and the second largest wholes aler of package tours in
Japan. In 1964, JAL launched the overseas package

tours named “JALPAK.” This is the first overseas
package tour to be offered by a Japanese travel company.
In 1969, JAL established a subsidiary tour operator,
“Japan Creative Tours (JCT)” in Japan. JCT set up its
local subsidiary, “Pacifico Creative Service (PCS)” in
Vancouver and the U.S. in 1974 and 1970, respectively.
In 2001, PCS altered its name to JALPAK International.
In Japan, JCT initiated a new tour called “AVA”
for media channels in 1987. In 1991, JCT altered its
name to JALPAK and launched a new tour called “I’ll.”
The local operators of the package tours
“JALPAK,” “AVA,” and “I’ll” were changed by the ir
establishment. Until 1975, the Canada tours were
operated by JAL’s San Francisco office and other local
operators in Vancouver. However, the local subsidiary in
Vancouver started undertaking the tour operations from
1974.

In this study, Canada tours are defined as those
supplying accommodations in Canada. Places offering
overnight accommodation, flows, and operation seasons
of the tour routes in each sample year were identified
from the brochures. The pictures on the brochures were

classified by size into five scales : smaller than
one-eighth the area of a page; smaller than one -fourth
the area of a page but bigger than one-eighth of a page;
smaller than half the area of a page but bigger than
one-fourth of a page; smaller than a page but bigger than
half a page ; bigger than a page. In addition, the theme of
each picture was judged in terms of its component as
follows: mountains, waterfalls, accommodations, built
environment, flowers, and others. The locations of the
pictures were also identified.

Analysis of JALPAK Package Tour Brochures

Data
The years 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 are
selected as the sample years for this study. Most tour
companies in Japan do not retain their brochures due to
insufficient space in their small offices. JALPAK is
probably the only company that archives its brochures.

Result

Historically, JALPAK had been one of the most
popular tour brands in Japan (Figure 3). After the brand
name was changed, JALPAK’s successor “I’ll” became
the second-most popular brand in Japan.

1970. There were only four types of Canada tours
(Figure 4). Three of them were transcontinental tours;
the fourth was a tour of the West Coast. Places offering
overnight accommodation would be dis tributed along
the East Coast and the West Coast. All the tours supplied
accommodations at San Francisco, Los Angels , and
Honolulu. Three tours provided accommodations at
Niagara Falls, New York, Washington, and Las Vegas. In
terms of seasonality, three out of four were summer
tours, while one was an all-season tour. Hence, Canada
tours represented a strong seasonality, particularly in the
West Canada tour as compared to the East Canada tour.
Therefore, Canada was merely a destination of the North
America tour in 1970.
There were only two pictures in the brochures of
this year. The first was a lake recreation scene depicting
the Canadian Rockies, while the second showed Niagara
Falls. The themes of these pictures were very typical,

similar to those of the other years. In addition, both of
them featured nature in summer. This was because
summer season tours mainly comprised the Canada tour.
In this way, in 1970, Canada was projected as a
destination characterized by rich nature that could be
enjoyed in summer.

1980. The brochures of the year 1980 listed 46 types of
Canada tours (Figure 5), in which West Canada had
become a main destination. The Canadian destinations
were combined with those in North and Middle America.
Most of these tours were operated in the summer season.
Various new destinations, s uch as those in West Canada,
Alaska, the middle U.S., and Middle and South America,
were added at this time . Consequently, Canada became a
part of the destinations on the North and South America
tours.

1990. There were 34 types of tours in the brochure of
the year 1990 (Figure 7). East Canadian destinations
were more prevalent than before. The distributional area
of destinations other than Canada had decreased; they
were limited to those within the U.S. Almost all the
tours were all-season tours. Thus, Canada had become a
year-round destination.
The brochure of this year contained 45 pictures
(Figure 8). Pictures of the Canadian Rockies, especially
Lake Louise , dominate d the total area. However, there
was also an increase in the depiction of the East
Canadian destinations whose themes comprised cities.
In this way, different aspects of Canada came to be
projected.

2000. There were 46 tours in the brochures of the year
2000 (Figure 9). There was a decrease in the number of
destinations other than Canada. Many tours were
all-season tours. Hence, Canada tours had become
increasingly independent of the destinations in the U.S.

There were 32 pictures in the brochures of 1980
(Figure 6). The pictures of West Canada, especially
those of the Canadian Rockies and Vancouver,
accounted for a significant share of the total area.
However, the area of the pictures depicting East Canada
is much smaller than those depicting West Canada, and
their themes are also considerably different. Hence,
West Canada was principally projected, with different
themes —for example, Vancouver as a city, the Rockies
as mountains.

There were 53 pictures in the brochures of this

year (Figure 10). The area of almost all the pictures of
the Canadian destinations had increased. For the first
time ever, that of Victoria was larger than that of
Vancouver. In terms of theme, the accommodation
pictures covered a much larger area than before . In this
way, Canada had been projected in detail.

Conclusion
This study identified the diversification and
detailization of the image of Canada as it was projected
in Japanese package tour brochures. This diversification
and detailization were influenced by four intricately
intertwined factors.
The first factor is tourism product development in
Canada, which was brought about by three other factors.
This has increased the number of destinations projected.
The second is the localization of the operations,
which has allowed the tour operators to buy reasonable
local travel units and collect local information.
Therefore, these operators could diversify and detailize
the pictures.
The third factor is the decline in seasonal
difference, mainly caused by the second factor, by
which it became necessary to conduct year-round tours
so as to maintain the local operators. Therefore, Canada
began to be projected as a year-round destination.
The fourth factor is the phasing out of destinations
other than Cana da in the tour, which means that the
destinations of Canadian tours have narrowed from
within North, Middle , and South America including
Hawaii to just within Canada and the U.S. This has
further resulted in diversifying and detailizing the
pictures of Canada .
A further examination and analysis of the tour
companies’ strategic intents is likely to afford some new
perspectives regarding the change s in the projected
image of Canada as a touris t destination.

Reference
Bramwell, B. and Rawding, I. 1996. Tourism marketing
images of industrial cities. Annals of Tourism

Research, 23, 201-221.
Dilley, R.S. 1986. Tourist brochures and tourist images.
Canadian Geographer , 30, 59-65.
Hunt, J.D. 1975. Image as a Factor in Tourism. Journal
of Travel Research, 13, 1-17.
Japan Tourist Bureau 2006. JTB Report 2006: all about
Japanese overseas travelers . Tokyo: Japan Tourism
Marketing Company.
Marsh, J.S. 1986. Advertising Canada in Japan and
Japanese tourism in Canada . Marsh, J.S. ed. Canadian
studies of parks, recreation and tourism in foreign
lands: proceedings of a special session of the
Canadian Association of Geographers, Calgary,
Alberta, June 19-22, 1986. Peterborough: Trent
University, 83-110.
Marti, B.E. 1993. Cruise line brochures: a comparative
analysis of line providing Caribbean service. Journal
of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 2(1), 31-52.
Pike, S. 2002. Destination image analysis -a review of
142 papers from 1973 to 2000. Tourism Management,
23, 541-549.
Pritchard, A. and Morgan, N.J. 1996. Selling the Celtic
Arc to the USA: a comparative analysis of destination
brochure images used in the marketing of Ireland,
Scotland and Wales. Journal of Vacation Marketing,
2(4), 346-365.
Ross, G.F. 1994. Demand for city tourism in Europe:
tour operators' catalogues. Tourism Management, 15,
66-69.
Santos, J. 1998. The role of tour operators' promotional
material in formation of destination image and
consumer expectations: the case of the peoples'
Republic of China. Journal of Vacation Marketing,
4(3), 282-297.
Yamakawa, K. 1998. Das bild über Deutshland in den
japaniscehen reiseprospekten. Memoirs of Kunitachi
Music College , 32, 195-204.
Wicks, B.E. and Schuett, M.A. 1991. Examining the
role of tourism promotion through the use of
brochures. Tourism Management, 12, 301-312.